1. Technical Field
The following description relates to an image processing device capable of reading/writing data from/to an external storage which is detachably connectable to the image processing device.
2. Related Art
Conventionally, there has been known an image processing device capable of performing direct printing. The direct printing is a function of retrieving print data stored in the external storage detachably attached to the image processing device, developing the print data into generate image data (e.g., generating bitmap data), and printing images on recording sheets based on the developed image data. An example of such an image processing device is disclosed in Japanese Patent Provisional Publication No. 2006-224329.
When such an external storage is used, security protection of the data stored in the external storage is important. Typically, in order to protect the security, the external storage is connected to a host computer, and under control of the host computer, authentication data is stored in the external storage. When such an external storage is connected to an image processing device and data is handled between the image processing device and the external storage, a user is firstly required to input authentication data (e.g., password) to handle the data. Then, the image processing device compares the input authentication data and the authentication data preliminarily stored in the external device, and enables handling of data between the image processing device and the external storage only when the input authentication data coincides with the stored authentication data.